


In Weakness and Strength

by xxSamuraiPrincess26xx



Category: Fantastic Four (Movies 2005-2007)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxSamuraiPrincess26xx/pseuds/xxSamuraiPrincess26xx
Summary: *Companion piece to Only Hope of Survival* Susan goes to rescue Reed from Victor, but during the process faces a difficult challenge.





	In Weakness and Strength

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all my dearest friends and readers! I am back with another story for you all! This is actually a companion piece to "Only Hope Of Survival" so I actually suggest reading that one first so this one will make more sense. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Fantastic Four.

In Weakness and Strength

The night had been nothing but stressful and terrifying. Johnny had been shot at with a missile and was now flying all over town in order to avoid it. Ben had been tricked and was now powerless. Reed had been kidnapped and with her brother and friend unable to do anything, Sue was on her own to rescue the man she loves.

The hallways were eerily quiet as Sue made rushed but careful steps, expecting that any minute something would jump out and grab her. In all her time working at Von Doom Industries, the hallways were always crowded with people and there was loud noise everywhere. People were always running around trying to get where they needed to go on time or arguing to talk to the receptionist first. It was hardly ever calm. But with the only sounds being her footsteps and quick breathing, it didn't feel like her workplace anymore. It felt abandoned and its atmosphere felt extremely dark.

As Sue continued her way to the conference room (where no doubt Reed was being held) she kept hoping that he wasn't being tortured in some way. Just the very thought of it brought a shiver down her spine and a heavy pain in her heart. She had no idea what exactly Victor was capable of or how far gone her boss was at this point. But right now, she was hoping that if something bad was happening, it would just be a heated argument.

. . .

Another groan had attempted to escape Reed's frozen lips as Victor slowly bent back his fingers a second time. It was bad enough that his hand was still in pain from the first time so having it done to him again made it worse.

Not only that, but the coolant that was being injected into his body had not only disabled his elastic powers, but also gave Reed the inability to move (which made any type of movement feel like he was breaking a bone).

Victor was not a stupid person. He knew exactly what happens to rubber when it's frozen. Even though Reed wasn't cold enough yet to "break", the fact that he was cold enough to feel pain gave Victor the satisfaction he had been waiting for. He had wanted to get revenge on Reed since discovering his metallic skin and after finding the liquid nitrogen tanks he immediately knew that would be the perfect way to do so.

Slowly torture and kill him at the same time.

Releasing his frozen fingers, Victor stepped closer to the freezing scientist and gently ran his metallic fingers across the marks that had started to for on Reed's neck and jaw.

An immediate sense of fear came over Reed as the feeling of Victor's fingers took him to the latter trapping his jaw and forcing his head back before sliding his hand down to his throat and roughly pulling his neck to force his head back down. Reed had thought for sure he was going to die at that moment, especially since he had been struggling to breathe at the time.

But like the first time, Victor removed his hand after a short time and after whispering something that Reed sure was an insult, Victor let up and returned to his chair in a dark corner of the conference room.

. . .

As Sue got closer to the conference room, the building's atmosphere seemed to get darker giving her the feeling that Victor and Reed were definitely not having a heated argument, causing her to quicken her pace no longer caring if something jumped out at her. Reed was hurting. She was sure of now. After going through seemingly endless hallways, finally reached the elevator and taking it to the top, stood in front of the door to the conference room.

Sue had no idea what she would find once she walked through the door. She didn't know if Reed was even alive and if he was, what state she would find him in. She didn't know if Victor was waiting for her to arrive and had something planned for her.

Pushing the thoughts of Victor aside, Sue slowly opened the door far enough for her to squeeze through and once inside, her attention immediately went to the large metal chair and liquid nitrogen tanks in the center of the room.

Right away she knew it was Reed sitting in that chair, shackled and unmoving. But she couldn't see the extent of the damage being done to him…and the damage that had already been done to him.

With her heart racing and a large sense of worry building up, Sue rushed over to the tanks and shut them off. But when she went to face Reed, a sense of fear started to take over.

His body was blue and icy

It looked like he couldn't breathe

The way he looked at her showed that he had blacked out at some point and was now completely delirious.

With this knowledge, Sue gently held his head in her hands and started talking to him in hopes that Reed would at least realize that she was there to help him. It seemed to have worked but at the same time it didn't. Thankfully, Reed was aware that Sue was with him, but with the mix of delirium and liquid nitrogen, was unable to piece together what was going on. Just when Sue believed that Victor had done enough damage, she noticed the markings on Reed's jaw and neck and she could also tell that there had also been some type of damage done to his right hand as well.

"What has he done to you?" Sue whispered as she looked at the markings. Victor had clearly tortured Reed physically and knowing what happens to rubber when frozen, would have caused Reed agonizing pain. Sue slowly ran her fingers across the markings but upon doing so, Reed suddenly groaned, fearful that she was going to hurt him like Victor had done earlier.

Now Sue was getting scared and also angry. Everything Victor had done clearly messed up Reed's mind to the point where he had also become delusional.

"Reed it's me. I am not going to hurt you. Victor hurt you. Do you understand what I am saying?" she asked hoping to get through to him.

After a few moments, her words seemed to have helped Reed due to a change in expression. Hopeful, Sue placed one of her hands on the side of his face.

"Please Reed come back to me." She softly said before repeating herself. "Come back to me."

As Sue was fighting back tears, she noticed that Reed's expression changed again and she knew that he was slowly coming back and finally realizing why she was there.

She was there to rescue him.

"Do you understand what's going on now?" Sue asked while slowly moving her hand back down to his neck stopping herself in case Reed slipped back.

Now that he was finally coming around, the fact that Reed believed that Sue was going to hurt him made him feel foolish and guilty. Then again, it was Victor's fault. Reed had also hoped that the expressions he was forcing himself to make let Sue know that he had put the pieces together. To his relief, they seemed to do the trick. But now Reed wanted her to hear his voice.

Forcing his frozen jaw open, Reed responded with the first thing that came to mind.

"Sue…"

With tears still threatening to fall, Sue let out a sigh of relief and a small smile.

With Reed now in a clear state of mind, Sue was now able to fully examine the markings. A few of them appeared to be swollen, particularly the ones on his jaw. Upon examining Reed's hand, she saw that there was also swelling but couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Stopping the examination, Sue looked at Reed and for a few moments he looked like he had slipped back. But since he didn't groan when she touched his hand like he did when she first tried to examine his jaw, let Sue know that Reed was still with her.

After discovering that the swelling was coming from his index finger, started working on removing the shackles while trying to figure out if there was any possible type of medical attention. At the same time, preparing herself in case of another episode that she would have to talk Reed out of.

But in her focus to save Reed, Sue had completely forgotten about Victor and the possibility of him being in the room.

. . .

A small smirk appeared on Victor's face as he watched the scene before him. He knew that no doubt Sue would arrive to rescue Reed especially since they had rekindled their relationship. So, this moment was completely expected.

Torturing Reed to the point of delusion would have caused her worries and fears to go into overdrive. So, watching her scramble to get Reed's mind back to reality and the fact that Reed was unable to talk to her made everything much more entertaining.

Now that he thought about it, he was torturing the both of them…even though his intent was to cause his rival's death. Either way, this made Victor feel even more empowered than before Sue arrived.

As much as he wanted to continue watching the "romantic comedy", Victor knew it was time to let Sue know that he was there.

. . .

To Sue's relief, the first shackle came off easily and Reed was still with her. But as she worked on the second shackle, the freezing scientist forced his mouth open again.

"Sue…"

Believing Reed was somehow trying to tell her that something was going on with him, she looked up at him and just as she was about to question if anything was wrong, a mocking voice was heard.

"How romantic…"


End file.
